SPORTSBIZ -- KEVIN KLEPS

A brief taste of playoff baseball whets the Indians' appetite for more

Blog Entry: October 07, 2013 12:35 PM | Author: KEVIN KLEPS

The scene from the Indians' loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League wild-card game last week — 43,579 fans “rocking their red,” waving towels and crafting signs — was a short-lived reminder of how special playoff baseball can be.

While preparing for an Indians postseason run that I anticipated would at least extend to a Division Series reunion between Terry Francona and the Boston Red Sox, I discovered this Fangraphs blog about how Major League Baseball divides postseason ticket revenue.

Bringing in more than 40,000 fans for a playoff game is great for the community, but not a huge revenue-generator for teams such as the Indians whose postseason doesn't include a seven-game series or two.

After taxes are taken off the top, the players get 50% of the ticket revenue from the two wild-card games, 60% from the first three games of the best-of-five Division Series, and 60% from the first four games of the two league championship series and the World Series.

In the World Series, the commissioner's office receives 15% of the paid attendance receipts, and the players then take 60% of the remaining 85% for the first four games.

According to Ken Stefanov, the Indians' chief financial officer, there also is an umpires' assessment that ranges from 5% of the gate for the wild-card game to 10% of the attendance revenue from the World Series that “funds the umpire expenses” paid by MLB.

After the players, commissioner's office (only for the World Series) and umpires get their respective cuts, the teams competing in each series split the remaining ticket revenue equally.

Translation: It takes an extended postseason run — preferably with series that last the full five or seven games — for teams to make any significant money on postseason gate receipts.

“I have actually prepared postseason profitability projections in the past that have us basically breaking even if we won the World Series by playing the minimum number of games,” Stefanov said. “We spend a lot to get ready for the postseason and the payoff is good — if you can play the maximum number of games in each series.”

Stefanov was quick to add that the Indians “of course” would prefer to win the World Series, “no matter how many games it took.”

The Indians CFO wasn't bemoaning the CBA. He was breaking down the complex math that is involved any time an MLB team is fortunate enough to host a series of huge events in October.

Stefanov said teams incur the “same basic expenses” they experience during the regular season, “but at a sellout mode every game.”

Among the biggest expenses are game labor, credit card fees, infrastructure improvements to accommodate MLB and the TV networks and potential travel, Stefanov said.

The players' share of the gate receipts goes into a pool that, at the end of the postseason, awards 36% to the members of the World Series champion, 24% to players on the World Series runner-up, 12% to the losers of each league championship series, a total of 13% that is split four ways by the Division Series losers and 3% that is split by the two wild-card losers (the Indians and Reds this season).

All of which makes one-game postseason runs such as the Indians' not much more than a break-even proposition from a ticketing standpoint.

The obvious benefits from postseason appearances are the other revenues such trips produce — merchandising, concessions, season-ticket sales, etc.

Stefanov said the Indians' ALCS appearance in 2007 resulted in a 15% increase in season-ticket sales for the 2008 season, and the team's advertising sponsorships went up 10%.

When I spoke with Tribe president Mark Shapiro last month for a story on the Indians' attendance, he said the organization's season-ticket base was 13,000 in 2007 — about 5,500 ahead of its current figure.

The Indians' memorable September should give them a spark as they seek to improve upon that base.

“Really, everything boils down to we need to get that number up,” Shapiro said then of the importance of season tickets to the team's attendance.

No Joshing: Should the Browns have pursued Freeman?

Josh Freeman — much to the dismay of many of us who don't believe in Brandon Weeden — isn't heading to Cleveland.

Freeman reportedly will receive $2 million from the Vikings — in addition to the $8.4 million he is being paid by the Bucs ($2.479 million at the start of the season and $5.9 million in termination pay).

If the Browns truly view themselves as contenders, Freeman would have to be considered a step above Weeden and Jason Campbell.

Salary-cap space certainly wasn't an issue for the Browns in any potential pursuit of Freeman.

Last Wednesday, the University of Akron surpassed its men's basketball record for season tickets sold. The previous mark of 1,097 was set in 2012-13.

The Zips, who set a school mark for wins (26) and compiled the nation's longest winning streak last season (19), open their season Nov. 8 against visiting Coastal Carolina.

You can follow me on Twitter for sports information, analysis and an “I told you so” when Josh Freeman leads the Vikings to the playoffs. OK, everything but the latter.

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